You really are spoilt for choice when you stay at Embers Polesden Lacey – you can do as much or little as you want! If you’re like us and love camping, you’ll know that the fun shouldn’t be over when the sun goes down. That’s why when night-time falls at Embers, your own personal campfire lights up! To cook on, to tell spooky stories around, or just to warm your toes with a nice bottle of red.

At Embers Polesden Lacey, we are proud to offer the unique experience of camping at one of England’s most beautiful National Trust properties. As the campsite is located near to the main house within the grounds of the Polesden Lacey Estate, you have direct access during opening hours to the House, Gardens and further afield the 1,400 acres of ancient woodland and trails can be explored.

Whether you decide to explore one of the four main estate walks by foot, visit the main house where Royals spent their honeymoon in the last century or simply laze in shade overlooking the views over the Surrey Hills, you will be pushed to tire of the stunning grounds at Polesden Lacey. There’s plenty for the kids to do too, such as borrowing a pair of binoculars to spot the wide array of butterflies, house martins and swallows that grace the local woodlands.

You’ll have a new beautiful oak-framed modern washroom at the campsite, which hopefully will mightily impress you with all the home comforts such as piping hot showers. By using sustainable sources of power, saving water using saving devices, with the campsite left as natural as possible, you can enjoy our campsite again and again, and nature will never know you were there.

There is also a place to get scrummy food and treats at the Granary or Cowshed Cafés at Polesden Lacey serving delicious fresh food for most of the day and afternoon tea on the doorstep of the campsite.

Parking and Access

As the campsite is found within the unspoilt National Trust Polesden Lacey Estate, cars can only enter the campsite after 5pm for setting up camp. If you arrive between the hours of 2pm to 5pm, the campsite manager can shuttle bulky items such as tents to the campsite, otherwise you can walk onto site by footpath and use our trolleys. You could also wander and explore the beautiful estate from 2pm while you wait for friends to join you. Cars are parked overnight in the main National Trust Car Park, about a 10 minute walk from the campsite. Check out is 10am on the day of your departure.

Location

Our campsite is located at the Polesden Lacey Estate near Dorking in the Surrey Hills, which is part of the National Trusts network of beautiful historic buildings giving you the perfect rural retreat for your holiday.

Directions

From Junction 9 of the M25: follow the A243 (signed A24 Epsom, Dorking and Leatherhead), before picking up the A24 and then the A246 (following the brown signs, but taking care not to take a hard right onto the B2033 Reigate Road). Don't miss the brown sign as you enter Great Bookham, indicating the left turn up to Polesden. From Guildford: Follow the A246, past East Clandon and East Horsley. Don't miss the brown sign as you enter Great Bookham, indicating the right turn up to Polesden.

There are four main walks within the 1,400 acre estate at Polesden Lacey each with its own name, colour and symbol. The walks have been recently marked out, so from the doorstep of the campsite you can explore the stunning views and ancient woodland in the estate. Each walk has its own difficulty from the Chalkpit walk, which is great for kids, to long range ones for the more adventurous.

Squirrels Corner

There are many things to keep the kids entertained in this corner with an adventure play area, picnic and games areas in the orchard, or visit the garden trails where you can using a free set of binoculars to spot butterflies and birds.

Polesden Lacey offers a wide choice of delicious home-cooked dishes to tasty bites and refreshments to accommodate all your needs having explored the vast estate. The Granary Café and Cow Shed coffee shop serve both hot and cold meals and a selection of cakes, brownies to scones for an afternoon tea in a perfect setting.

The shop has many different gifts to choose from hand-crafted wooden dishes to jams and chutneys for the kitchen cupboards. A visit to the shop will truly worthwhile experience.

Go wild in the woods with our pack of fun activities, games and crafts to keep the kids entertained for hours. With Woodland Activity Packs available for 1 or 2 children each pack contains everything you need to have fun in the wilds of Polesden Lacey.

Price:

£3 for 1 child pack

£5 for 2 child pack.

When:

Purchase your packs from the Embers reception or Shepherd’s Hut by Polesden Lacey reception between 10am – 3pm daily during June, July and August.

Discover these wonderful creatures on our Ranger guided walks. See the bats dart and dive and hear their ‘silent’ nocturnal calls with special detectors. Polesden Lacey is an important area for bats with many species using the grounds to feed at night. Participants can spend the evening with the Rangers at Polesden Lacey discovering all that is hidden in the dark. After a short talk on bats and the detectors we will be using, the rest of the evening will be spent looking and listening out for bats swooping across the night sky within the gardens.

Price:

- £8 adult, £4 child (12 and under)

Important information - Groups are limited to a Maximum of 20 people. Advance Booking Essential.

When:

7:30 to 9:30pm, please meet outside the Cow shed coffee shop.

Alternate Saturdays in July and August from Saturday July 1st.

HOME COMFORTS

We want you to enjoy your stay at Embers just as nature intended. But that doesn’t mean going without clean facilities. A new oak-framed washroom at our Embers Polesden Lacey campsite in Surrey will provide all the home comforts you will need whilst camping. All of our bathrooms are clean and spacious, with underfloor heating and all of our showers are piping hot! A real comfort when you are camping, leaving you refreshed and ready to take on the day ahead!

We are a tent only site. If you don't have a tent you can hire one from us, so you need not worry if you don't have all the equipment. Choose from our new 5m Bell/Safari tents (sleeps upto 6 persons) for a "real" camping under canvas experience from £65/night! You can include a deluxe option by adding lights, rugs and fairy lights too!

We also are offering high quality cookware that will make you have a superb BBQ at our campsite - add the BBQ option on the main booking page. If you want to keep your food cold for the weekend, hire one of our high quality ice boxes that comes with ice.

Pizzas are also a highlight at our campsites, made fresh on site and cooked in our very own wood fired ovens, from £7 each. Once you have made a booking, we'll email you with pizza choices closer to your arrival date.

When making a booking, add the tent and other options under the heading "Add Your Camping Options", once you have selected your campsite here.

The Polesden Lacey estate has played host to royalty throughout history. The location and picturesque views across the Surrey Hills was the perfect setting for entertaining the high society during the early part of the 20th Century.

Margaret and her husband Ronald Greville bought Polesden Lacey in 1906. They commissioned architects Mewès and Davis, who had recently designed the Ritz, and interior decorators White, Allom and Co. Between them, these firms created a sumptuous and luxurious house fit for royalty. Sadly Ronald passed away in 1908, but Margaret remained at Polesden Lacey for many years, entertaining a stream of high profile guests, including Kings Edward VII, George V and George VI.

The House

The house has many opulent rooms from Dining Rooms, a Saloon which was decorated with early 18th-century paneling from an Italian palace and of course a Billiard Room, all entertaining the most powerful dignitaries and politicians in their time including the likes of Winston Churchill.

Mrs Greville organised her social life in the study by the the early 19th-century mahogany writing table which today is covered with a collection of photographs of, amongst others: her parents, the Aga Khan, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and the two princesses.

Central hall

This room was the first to make an impact on Mrs Greville's guests, so it needed to be impressive. White Allom and Co. specialised in architectural salvage and it features a carved reredos (screen from behind the altar) from St Matthew's Church, one of Sir Christopher Wren's churches. Flemish tapestries from the 16th, 17th and 18th-centuries cover the walls and a silver-plated chandelier hangs from the ceiling.

Author Beverly Nichols remembers the footman serving drinks here at 6pm as the glamorous guests began to mingle before dinner.

Picture corridor

After Margaret Greville died, paintings from her London home were brought to Polesden. Some of the most spectacular, including her collection of Dutch old masters, now hang in the Picture corridor. Margaret consulted experts for advice on her collection and in this Jacobean inspired oak-pannelled gallery, you'll find fine paintings by Teniers, ter Borch and de Hooch, as well as an antique Roman sarcophagus, dating from 3AD.

Tea room

Polesden's afternoon teas were sumptuous affairs and good enough to entice royalty. Queen Mary, wife of King George V, would often telephone to announce herself for tea the same afternoon. Mrs Greville kept her favourite tea in stock as well as the blend enjoyed by Lord Reading, Viceroy of India. Much of the French furniture in this room was originally used to furnish the guest bedrooms.